Palladium Books® Weekly Update – May 18, 2012

By Kevin Siembieda

There’s a lot going on and a lot of news, so this is a long Update. I hope you don’t mind.

It has been a truly wild week. To say we’ve been busy is an understatement. We’ve been working so intensely, there were times when I was running down the hall from my office to Wayne’s and back.

In addition to catching up with work since the Palladium Open House (I still have a million Private Messages, emails and other things to get to!), all kinds of good things have been going on behind the scenes. Stuff with upcoming releases, artists, Robotech®, trying to take care of Gen Con® arrangements required now, advertising, some interest by a third party in developing the Rifts® movie, new opportunities and, well, all kinds of things. I’ve been coordinating my creative forces, talking with artists and writers, meeting with people, and revving up for more great product releases all week.

I’m on a mission. A mission to make 2012 Palladium Books’ turnaround year. A sustained turnaround. I feel like we’re off to a solid start and have one great product lined up after another. I know people want more books and want them now. We’re on it. I’m sure they won’t come out as fast as either you or I would love to see, but they are coming. I’m sure we’ll be late on many releases, though when books are delayed this year, it should be by a few weeks, not several months or years.

Along those lines, I’m working to put some of the titles we announced years ago, but got derailed and delayed indefinitely, back into the pipeline for release in the next 18 months. Those that don’t appear this year will be 2013 releases. Yes, we’re already thinking about next year’s releases. Such upcoming titles include Chaos Earth™ First Responders, Beyond the Supernatural™ sourcebooks Beyond Arcanum™ and Tome Grotesque™, Palladium Fantasy® sourcebooks Land of the Damned™ Three and Wolfen Wars™ (among others for Palladium Fantasy®), Mechanoids Space™ and support for all our game lines. (Note: Just for the purpose of clarification, the reason you are not seeing talk about Rifts® Australia Two, RECON® Modern Combat or the Robotech® Big Books of Ships is because they have been cancelled. They’ve been canceled for a long while, in some cases, many years. Why? In most cases the original writer moved on and there was nobody to pick up the project. Sometimes the book just didn’t pan out. Sometimes it takes forever to develop. Sorry, it happens. I hope you understand.)

Another part of our mission is to wow you. We refuse to produce second-rate books, and quality takes time. For example, the Northern Gun books. We want them to blow your socks off like Lemuria. That may mean them getting pushed back a month. Why? Because we can only work so fast. Chuck can only create and draw at a particular pace and what he’s cranking out is fantastic. Trust me, you don’t want this rushed, or the work farmed out to someone else. The guys and I can only write and edit so fast. The bane of my existence is that the creative process is a fickle mistress and sometimes a slow one. We want to push the envelope and wow you with every new book. We want to create products that generate buzz and inspire people to explore new realms of adventure. Books that make people want to play. That said, we are still working to release one or two new sourcebooks every month.

Meet the People Behind Palladium

Carmen Bellaire and William Johnson conducted something in the neighborhood of 20 short video interviews with Palladium artists, writers, staff and personalities at the Palladium Open House. The backdrop of these videos is a corner of my office. Each is 8-10 minutes long and fun to watch. Interviews include Amy L. Ashbaugh, Nick Bradshaw, Mike Mumah, Chuck Walton, Brian and Allen Manning, Brandon Aten, Irvin Jackson, Mark Oberle, Wayne Smith, me and many others. I think there are eight posted right now with another 6-8 being posted over the weekend, and more to follow. Check ‘em out at youtube.com/user/Maloquinn

As anyone who has met Carmen can confirm, he can be a force of nature. So I was not surprised that he ran game after game at the Open House and hotel into the wee hours, but that he and his pal, “Big Will” Johnson, also found the time to conduct two dozen video interviews with Palladium personalities for your viewing enjoyment.

Live Podcast Next Tuesday, May 22, on Gateway to the Megaverse®

Matthew Daye has invited me to do a live podcast on Gateway to the Megaverse® on Tuesday at 6:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time. Of course, the interview is always recorded and available for download in various mediums. I’m happy to hear that Gateway to the Megaverse® is back from hiatus, and I look forward to chatting with Matthew and answering your questions next week.

2012 Palladium Open House Report

The Palladium Open House Report is posted. It includes a nice selection of photos, an overview of the POH from my perspective and, due to popular demand, the complete story of my six part, epic Fantasy game. Folks who have read the story (or heard it from me directly), have enjoyed it. The Open House was amazing fun, filled with friendship, laughter and lasting memories. It was a joyful event that helped recharge our creative batteries, but it has also thoroughly shot our plans for May releases. Don’t worry, we’re on the job and moving forward to pound out great new product.

Assignment: Book Production

I have spent most of this week – and it has been a wild one – coordinating work on upcoming and new future books. That has entailed numerous emails and discussions with artists and writers, licensors, and staff, as well as reviewing manuscripts, planning and scheduling. I will be assigning artwork for several titles over the weekend. Meanwhile, Wayne, Alex and I have also been working on plans for an advertising and promotional campaign.

Right now we are hard at work lining up the following releases:

Rifts® Vampires Sourcebook

Rifts® Black Market

Robotech® Genesis Pits™ Sourcebook

Rifts® Northern Gun™ One

Rifts® Northern Gun™ Two

Rifts® Megaverse® in Flames

Chaos Earth™ First Responders

The last 4-5 months of 2012 will focus on Palladium’s many other game lines, including Chaos Earth™, Palladium Fantasy RPG®, Robotech® and Beyond the Supernatural™. With a little luck, we may be able to slip in a Heroes Unlimited™, Splicers® and/or Nightbane® title as well. (If not, expect them in 2013). Time will tell, but keep the faith.

Ideas for New Products

Ideas were flying like hot rail gun rounds last night during a meeting with Chuck Walton, Matthew Clements, Mark Dudley, Alex and me. First Chuck and I met to discuss design concepts for Northern Gun vehicles. Then he and I pounded out the design elements and concept art for the cover. Mark Dudley and Matthew Clements arrived around 6:30 and 7:00 PM respectively for what was supposed to be a short, hour meeting about current and future projects, including future sourcebooks, storytelling and developing Palladium I.P.s into comic books. As the clock approached 10:00 PM, we called it a night. The ideas were flying so fast and the excitement so palpable that we completely lost track of time. It was great.

UPDATE: Endless Dead™

This zombie sourcebook for Dead Reign™ (along with Rifts® Lemuria and the many reprints, T-Shirts and new, non-book products) was the hit of the Open House. As it starts to arrive on store shelves and appear in mailboxes, we are hearing nothing but good things about this book. Gamers seem especially pleased with the inclusion of information about the military and military adventure hooks, as well as the new zombies. If you’re a fan of zombies, you’ll want to take a look at this sourcebook and the Dead Reign™ RPG.

UPDATE: Rifts® Vampires Sourcebook

This is the book I dive into next week and work on until it is finished. Perhaps other than some odds and ends, artwork is done. I have editing and writing to do at this point. This book will include updated and expanded information about Doc Reid, Reid’s Rangers, Fort Reid, the Yucatan, Camazotz and the Vampire Kingdoms. I expect the final writing to go smoothly and quickly.

UPDATE: Rifts® Black Market Sourcebook

I’m assigning artwork for this book (and others) over the weekend and next week. It is the title I work on immediately after Rifts® Vampire Sourcebook. FYI: We intend to grind out one new book after another, pausing only for Gen Con®!

UPDATE: Northern Gun™ One

Chuck and I (mostly Chuck, with me art directing and providing concepts) designed and laid out the cover for Northern Gun One. It is a wraparound cover depicting a group of mercenaries in NG robots and power armor after a fierce battle with a dragon. The dead beast lies before them and the carnage of the battle smolders in the background. It’s a powerful piece that shouts “Rifts” and “Northern Gun.” When Mark Dudley saw it he grinned and said, “Now that’s what I’m talking about.” Matthew Clements’ initial response: “Wow. Sweet.”

UPDATE: Northern Gun™ Two

John Zeleznik should be starting his wraparound cover for Northern Gun Two, depicting the Robot Gladiatorial arena, any day now. It’s going to be another impressive cover. Chuck Walton, Mike Mumah, Mark Dudley, Nick Bradshaw and others will be handling the art chores. Note: New descriptions for both Northern Gun titles will appear in the next Weekly Update.

We said we’d be doing crowdsource funding for major releases, and the two Northern Gun™ books are major releases. Each is going be large, juicy and full of artwork. Lots and lots and lots of artwork. Each book will include expansive amounts of material. Each book will knock your socks off. Each book is costing some dough to produce.

● Northern Gun™ One – Megaverse® Insider, crowdsource funding offer, runs June 7-25, 2012. It will be structured very much like the Lemuria offer.

● Northern Gun™ Two – Megaverse® Insider, crowdsource funding offer, will be made available in July (exact date yet to be determined, but probably July 12-30, 2012). It will be structured very much like the Lemuria offer with the same types of items available for purchase: Name listed in the book, PDF of the book, color cover hardcover, a leatherette and foil hardcover, original Chuck Walton art as part of the Benefactor package, and so on. If there is any variation on those themes (we’re considering a signed print or poster of the wraparound cover), they’ll probably be relatively minor.

Having done one crowdsource funding, things should go even smoother this time around, icluding posting Insider names online, in advance of publication, for review and corrections. Likewise, I’m making this advance announcement now, because many of you requested that we’d do so. We listen and appreciate your suggestions.

UPDATE: Rifts® Megaverse® in Flames

Still shooting to have it done in time for Gen Con®, but no promises. I’ve recently given the manuscript a once-over and it is sweet. Another epic title.

UPDATE: Robotech®

I had an excellent conversation with Tommy Yune about several ideas for upcoming Robotech® releases and products. We are pumped up and looking forward to bringing you many more new Robotech® products.

UPDATE: Robotech® Genesis Pits™ Sourcebook

John Zeleznik submitted his Genesis Pits™ cover for approval. I love it and sent it to Harmony Gold for review and approval. We’re waiting for some changes from Harmony Gold before we can show you the cover. Next, I need to assign the interior art to various artists and get this puppy laid out, approved and sent to the printer! We want it out in June.

UPDATE: Robotech® UEEF Marines™ Sourcebook Expanded

I spoke with Irvin Jackson a couple of times this week as well as exchanged some emails. We enjoyed a spirited discussion about his next Robotech® title: The UEEF Marines Sourcebook. By the end of our second talk, we were discussing two, big books (160 pages each?), with all kinds of wonderful history, new mecha designs and adventure avenues for the UEEF and their space campaign against the Robotech Masters and Invid. Irvin is on fire and the ideas are nothing short of amazing. And there was even some mention of ideas for books that would come AFTER the expanded UEEF titles. More on these later as Irvin fine tunes his ideas. And yes, we are shooting for their release later this year.

Products Available NOW!

The last Weekly Update included the description for 19 new products – including miniatures, T-shirts and titles back in stock. Sales were strong until an oversight renewing our Security Certificate caused an ominous warning to appear. A warning that seemed to frighten customers away Saturday night and Sunday. The problem was corrected Monday and sales picked back up. Still, I wanted to let you know that your data was never compromised and the certificate has been renewed. So please, place your orders for the many cool, new products without worry. Note:Rifts® Dice Bags are temporarily out of print, but will be available again soon. Hoodies are also out of print but coming back this fall.

Health Update

As gamers who saw me at the Palladium Open House can confirm, I’m thin, energetic and looking healthy. My diabetes is under control, being managed, and I hope to be taken off the meds and control it entirely via diet and exercise. I’m going in for a routine colonoscopy on Monday. This is a preventative measure for a guy my age, and is nothing to worry about. In fact, there are a number of medical exams coming up for me to make sure I’m in tip-top shape. My humble thanks to those of you who complimented me on my appearance and efforts to stay healthy.

Alex Marciniszyn’s blood condition flared up a couple weeks before the Open House, but is under treatment and he is looking and feeling better.

That’s the news and updates for now. Keep those orders for recent releases coming, have a wonderful weekend and keep those imaginations burning bright.

– Kevin Siembieda, Publisher, Writer and Game Designer

New! Rifts® Pencil – available now

It’s silly, but fun. A standard No. 2 Pencil that reads: DO NOT REMOVE. PROPERTY OF THE CHI-TOWN LIBRARY. Obviously a relic and collector’s item from before the famous library burned down. Erin Tarn has a whole desk drawer of these pencils. What about you?

New! Palladium Fantasy RPG® Coffee Mug – available now

This mug is gorgeous. It is the same style as previous coffee mugs and captures the classic Palladium Fantasy cover image in red on a black mug.

15.5 ounce mug perfect for coffee, tea, hot chocolate or soda on game night or any time. Fun and useful.

Classic Palladium artwork depicting the knight and dragon from the cover of the original edition of Palladium Fantasy RPG® appears on one side of the mug and The Palladium Fantasy RPG® logo appears on the other side. Nice.

New! Dead Reign™: “Survive or Die Trying” T-Shirt – available now

A black T-shirt featuring a zombie hunter on horseback riding through the gore of a recent zombie battle in hometown America. The Dead Reign™ logo and words, “Survive or die trying,” are below the art; white printing on a black T-shirt.

Old Ones™ – A sourcebook for Palladium Fantasy RPG® – available now

Back in print! This is a massive adventure book with maps and descriptions of more than 50 locations in the Timiro Kingdom. As if that were not enough to make this the ultimate adventure book, there is also information about the Old Ones and a few O.C.C.s.

50+ cities, towns, and forts described and mapped. Each suitable as a place for adventure.

7 fully fleshed out adventures and scores of adventure ideas.

Includes the fabled “Place of Magic,” an ancient Dwarven Ruin reputed to date back to the Elf-Dwarf War.

Wolfen Empire™ – A sourcebook for Palladium Fantasy RPG® – available now

Back in print! This juicy adventure-sourcebook is authored by Erick Wujcik, Kevin Siembieda and Bill Coffin. It presents a comprehensive background and history of the Wolfen Empire, the Wolfen tribes, their military and their plans for the future. It also includes several adventures, strange animals, random encounter tables and more. Wolfen Empire is a fan favorite, and one of Erick Wujcik’s last published, role-playing works.

101 Adventures Table.

4 fully-fleshed out adventures plus a few notable places, including the Bones of Belimar, the Village Wrijin and the town of Badd Land (a Bandit’s Paradise).

Mutant Underground™ – A sourcebook for Heroes Unlimited™ – available now

Advancements in genetic engineering have created an array of mutants and superhumans. Some are heroes. Some are villains. Others are monsters. Many have gone underground and begun to build a secret mutant society and subculture. A sourcebook for Heroes Unlimited™.

Rifts® Dimension Book™ 6: Three Galaxies™ – available now

A guide to the Three Galaxies, this book takes a look at dozens of solar systems, notable planets, select alien races, people, civilizations and monsters, as well as space anomalies, spaceships and more. This is another sourcebook that is ideal for campaigns involving the Minion War™, the Thundercloud Galaxy™, Phase World® and adventures in the Three Galaxies.

An overview of the Three Galaxies.

16 O.C.C.s/R.C.C.s including the Obsidian Spell Thief and Space Warlock.

Classic Rifts® Miniatures – Back in stock

The following favorite Rifts® miniatures are back in stock. Some, like the Glitter Boy, have sold on the collector’s market for as much as $50-$120. They are being re-released for the first time in a decade.

Approximately 25 mm in size.

Each figure is an unpainted, pewter miniature. Some assembly and cleaning may be required.

Sold as a single, individual figure in a plastic bag and comes with a black, 30 mm or 40 mm plastic base.

Prices vary according to size, but range from $6-20 retail.

Sorry, not currently available in stores. Available only from Palladium Books.

NEW! Dead Reign™ Sourcebook 3: Endless Dead™ – Available now

Endless Dead™ – the zombie hordes grow in number and strangeness as we reveal Fused Zombies and weird amalgamations of walking dead. Can humankind survive? Where is the military? What’s next for the survivors of the zombie apocalypse?

This epic, 96 page sourcebook contains horrifying new zombies to haunt player characters along with new character classes (O.C.C.s) and tons of tables for detailing Survivor Hideouts, Safe Haven Communities, Death Cults, military units, military bases and more. Survival is not enough. The time for war against the Endless Dead™ has come.

NEW! The Rifter® #58

Available now

The Rifter® is an idea factory that helps players and Game Masters to generate new ideas and keep their games fresh. It provides useful, ready to go, source material gamers can just drop into their ongoing games. A doorway to new possibilities and numerous Palladium role-playing worlds. It offers new monsters, villains, characters, O.C.C.s, powers, magic, weapons, adventure and ideas for your games. It presents new villains, monsters and dangers to battle, and new ideas to consider. Every issue has material for Rifts® and at least two or three other Palladium game lines.

The Rifter® Number 58 examines people, places and power. There are new, “official” O.C.C.s for Rifts® Lemuria that include the Lemurian Academic, Citizen, Experimenter and Healer, plus more aquatic animals of note. The Free State of Lazlo provides another unique setting on Rifts Earth, and a Nightbane® short story offers a sense of life after Dark Day. The material for Palladium Fantasy® introduces an array of dangerous beings, and the section on the Kezel and their abilities provides a new kind of superhuman that can be used in Heroes Unlimited™, Phase World® or anywhere in the Megaverse®.

Various Settings – The Kezel™: A weird, new superhuman for use in Rifts® Chaos Earth™, Rifts®, Phase World®, Heroes Unlimited™ and even Palladium Fantasy®; includes many powers. The Kezel claim to be human, but their abilities would suggest otherwise.

Rifts® World Book 32: Lemuria™

– Available now!

Rifts® Lemuria is packed with new magic, weapons, living power armor, monstrous war steeds, weapons, and gear suitable for landlubbers and aquatic adventurers alike.

The Lemurians are an amphibious people with floating cities and magic-based technology that allows for land and underwater adventures alike. Discover the secrets and people of this lost and forgotten civilization of magic and wonder. Add amphibious capabilities to your Rifts® campaigns and discover new menaces under the sea. Amphibious in nature, Lemurians wage war against the demonic on dry land and under the waves. Their exotic riding animals, weapons, armor and magic are suitable for use on land and underwater.

Rifts® Vampires Sourcebook™

Unknown to most humans, deep within Mexico the vampires have established entire kingdoms. There they live like tyrants and gods, dominating an underclass of cattle people used as slaves and food stock. Learn more about the vampires, their rivals, allies and the humans who willingly serve their supernatural masters for a chance to join the undead. A must-have guide for those who wish to travel deeper into the Vampire Kingdoms or play as vampires and their human minions.

More human kingdoms within Mexico like the Tampico Military Protectorate and Durango, the Silver City.

Firefighting robots, hover firetrucks and more anti-vampire gear.

Magic based Vampire Hunters and human strongholds.

Techno-Wizard anti-vampire weapons and magical devices.

Profiles for Doc Reid and Reid’s Rangers, the world’s most famous Vampire Hunters.

Fort Reid, an entire city devoted to hunting the undead.

The Bloodwatch, a secret vampire intelligence agency that tracks down and exterminates Vampire Hunters.

The Yucatan Peninsula, a mysterious dimensional pocket overrun by strange demons known as Xibalbans.

The return of the Mayan god Camazotz, Lord of Bats and Darkness.

The werebeasts of Mexico and Central America; those who assist the vampires and those who fight against them.

Rifts® Black Market™ – A Rifts® Sourcebook

On Rifts® Earth, the Black Market is the most prevalent trader in weapons, contraband and magic items outlawed by the Coalition. Explore the day to day business of the market along with its smuggling routes, practices, policies and nefarious products. Encounter the five major Black Market factions in North America and foreign groups like the Yakuza, Green Scarf Sect and the Underground Railroads of Atlantis and the Vampire Kingdoms.

Rifts® World Books: Northern Gun™ One & Two

The largest independent manufacturer of weapons, robots and adventure gear in North America is Northern Gun™. Located in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, they have been the premier outfitter of mercenaries and adventurers for decades, and are a major hub for hiring military contractors. With a whole new product line to offer their customers, the future looks bright for Northern Gun™.

We haven’t yet decided exactly how the source material and background information will be divided between the two books. Both will contain world information, one will probably have power armor, weapons, and gear, the other will probably have giant robots and vehicles. Both will be epic.

The arms giant Northern Gun profiled for the first time!

The Kingdom of Ishpeming, a puppet-state propped up by NG.

109 P.A. catalog of Northern Gun products!

New weapons, power armor, vehicles, robots and adventure gear.

The Ishpeming military, essentially a framework for hiring mercenaries and privateers.

The NG Bounty Board, the largest collection of bounties and mercenary contracts anywhere on Rifts® Earth.

Rifts® Megaverse® in Flames™

The Minion War spills across Rifts Earth, where demons and infernals hope to recruit allies and use the Rifts as gateways of destruction. Their influence shakes things up across the planet, especially at locations where demons and Deevils already have a strong presence. More details to follow, but for now, ‘nuff said.

Soulmancer and Blood Magic.

The Seven Deadly Plagues.

The Demon Plagues across the globe.

Battleground: Earth – as demons and infernals amass their legions.

Rifts Calgary – also known as Hell’s Pit; the kingdom described.

Ciudad de Diablo, Harpies’ Island and other notable Hell holes on Earth.

Lord Doom, Pain and other demonic leaders.

Horune treachery, Dimension Stormers and other villains.

Global chaos and the places most dramatically affected by the Demon Plagues.

PDF downloads from DriveThruRPG.com

This is a great resource for getting out of print Palladium titles and other select books. We’ve made 90 titles available as PDF digital downloads from DriveThruRPG.com. This is a great way to try Palladium products and get access to out of print RPG source material. Some notable titles include: